The Marriage Conspiracy
by Athena Evarinya
Summary: Hermione Granger finds herself unexpectedly helping Draco Malfoy, by pretending to be his fiancee to save him from being sent to Azkaban. The engagement was only supposed to be temporary and pretend. However, is it really all just pretend?


**Chapter 1: Unexpected Engagement**

On May 2, 1998, the Final Battle of Hogwarts took place and resulted in the end of the Second Wizarding War and the death of the Dark Lord by the hand of the Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter. The days that followed the battle was one of jubilant celebration. It was also followed by the passing of many international laws in the Wizarding world to prevent another war of it's kind from happening once more.

Sure, the politicians were well aware of the fact that war could strike again. They were human after all and Muggle history had shown that humans were quite good at coming up with reasons to war with one another. Why should wizards be any different? However, they were determined that there would never be a war that had its origins in one's magical bloodlines again. It was for that reason that the Marriage-Bloodlines Act of 1998 was passed on June 13th.

The general gist of the Marriage-Bloodlines Act was simple and to the point. All single wizards and witches of a pure magical bloodline were required to marry a Muggle-born witch or wizard. Some exceptions were made on account of age and sexual preference (although the homosexual Wizarding community was firmly encouraged to have relationships with Muggle-born gays). Other exceptions were that a pureblood wizard or witch could meet the requirements of the law by marrying a half-blood. The end result was still the same in any case; the pureblood line would be destroyed within the next generation.

To help speed up this process of muddying up the bloodlines, it was required that all purebloods be married or at least engaged by their twenty-fifth birthday. All who did not meet this requirement would be forced to marry, on the spot, a wizard or witch of the Ministry's choosing or go to Azkaban for breaking the law until which point in time they agreed to marry the Ministry's choice or somehow managed through family connections to find a suitable choice to marry.

When the law was first passed, Draco Malfoy had felt some mild aggravation when he heard about it. However his aggravation mainly stemmed in the Ministry's audacity to butt into his personal affairs, which the choice of his future wife and mate was certainly very much personal. He wasn't particularly perturbed by the bit about marrying a Muggle-born, as he would have naturally been if the law had been passed in his First Year at Hogwarts. Back then he had been firm believer in his father's ideology, which came from idolizing the man who had sired him.

As Draco grew older and his experiences with Muggle-born and half-blood witches and wizards more varied, his own beliefs deviated from his father's and became similar to his mother's. Narcissa Malfoy née Black had rarely spoke up during his childhood about her own beliefs, seemingly to be in complete agreement of her husband's view of the world, which certainly met with the Black family ideology. It wasn't until he was in his late teens that Draco learned that his mother wasn't as much of a purist as his father was. Or at least not quite the same kind.

Yes, Narcissa believed in the superiority of a pure bloodline and that certain privileges and rights went with such things. But unlike her husband and her sister, Bellatrix, Narcissa didn't think it was right to enslave or kill those of lesser bloodlines. If one considered it, the pure bloodlines had to start somewhere and who was to know if that start was from a Muggle? Of course, that wasn't a theory she bandied about.

As she came in more contact with the Dark Lord, Narcissa realized that Lucius had dragged their family into untold danger for a bid for power and raising the Malfoy family status even higher. It hadn't been about the purity of bloodlines, not really, as she had thought and that knowledge had killed what respect she had for the man she had married. The fact that he had endangered their son and hadn't the good sense to back out, before it was too late, killed her love for him. It hadn't upset her too much that he went to Azkaban again after the war; she and Draco had been spared since they really hadn't been Death Eaters and her actions in saving Harry Potter had also helped them.

In any case, at the end of war Draco and his mother had been of the same mind about the whole bloodlines issue and his only annoyance with the Marriage-Bloodlines Act was the Ministry thought they could tell him who to marry if he didn't meet their deadline. He had been aggravated enough that he had been tempted to go to the Ministry to file a complaint about his rights being violated, but his mother had talked him out of it. He was only eighteen after all, she reminded him, there was plenty of time for him to meet a nice girl who met the bloodline requirements that the Ministry had decreed by his twenty-fifth birthday. And as good looking, intelligent and fairly rich wizard he was a prime catch.

Or so he had thought.

Oh that wasn't to say he wasn't good-looking (he had a devastating effect on the witches) or intelligent (only that know-it-all Granger had managed to get better grades then him at Hogwarts), and despite the fines placed upon the Malfoys because of his father's actions, he was still rich and had increased his wealth over the years with wise investments. The problem had been solely on the witches who had offered themselves up to his inspection. There was always something about them, some flaw that couldn't be overlooked.

He knew he was close to damn near perfect, but he didn't expect it from others. But considering that marriage was a serious deal and he preferred to get it right on the first try, he had every right to be picky. And while he didn't expect to love his wife, considering he was under a deadline to find the lucky lady, he did want to be able to develop a respect and affection for the woman. Problem was none of the witches he had met ,since he started dating his way through the Muggle-born and half-blood witch population, were no where near close to what he wanted.

And he now had less then twenty-four hours before he turned twenty-five. If he wasn't at least engaged to some witch of appropriate bloodlines, he'd be married off to Miranda Ashley Wiggins-Freathen or spending time at Azkaban in the cell next to his father, until which time he either had his mother find him a Muggle-born bride that he could stomach or he agreed to marry Miss Wiggins-Freathen. Considering the fact that Miranda Ashley Wiggins-Freathen was a twenty-one year old blonde Hufflepuff twit, who had a sick obsession with the color pink (which reminded him of a certain former DADA professor that he had hated despite the power she had given him while she had been at Hogwarts), was more annoying then Pansy Parkinson (an amazing feat in itself since Parkinson gave new meaning to annoying) and had questionable hygiene, it looked like he'd be serving a long term in Azkaban because he'd rather make-out with a Dementor then marry her.

Finding a woman he could spend the rest of his life with in such a short-time period wasn't feasible. However, Draco hadn't been sorted into Slytherin just because of his bloodlines. He was a Slytherin through and through and it was the cunning that his House was known for that had helped him formulate his current plan. He had to find a Muggle-born witch (as he was certain the Ministry wouldn't tolerate anything less then Muggle-born since he had reached his deadline) to pose as his fiancé, which would give him some extra time to find the appropriate bride he could live with.

The main flaw to the plan was finding a witch who would agree to it and not try to force him to the altar with the Ministry's full approval. Considering what a catch he was, that was a bit of a problem unless he could find a witch who would be acceptable to a monetary agreement of services rendered. He was certain his plan would succeed; he just had to find the right witch for the job which was the reason why he planned to go to _**Aurora**_ tonight. _**Aurora**_ was a popular club that had even defied the Dark Lord, when he had been in control during the Second Wizarding War, by refusing to turn its back on its Muggle-born clientele.

It was also his last hope.

* * *

"Good riddance to cheating, lying bastards who don't know a good thing when they have it," Ginny declared, raising up her nearly empty glass of a peach Fuzzy Navel. "And may someone hex his dick so it grows fuzzy warts and shrivel in size! Not that there is much in size to begin with. Bloody hell, I just might go and do that myself."

"Ginny," Hermione said, trying to sound a bit scandalized even though she was more amused then anything else which was apparent since the corners of her lips kept twitching up and she was hard-pressed not to laugh. The redhead did have quite a way with words, particularly when she was three sheets to the wind drunk. "That's your own brother you're talking about hexing."

"Sooooo," slurred the redhead. "I've hexed the arse before and I'll do it again for what he did to you. You were just toooo good for him and everyone in the family is taking your side on this. Mum's been sending him Howlers since the day you moved back in with your parents."

The knowledge that the Weasley family supported her despite the fact that she had been the one to file for divorce and end her marriage with Ron meant a lot to Hermione. Particularly the fact that Molly was on her side, as Hermione had once been on the wrong end of the Weasley matriarch's wrath thanks to gossip-monger Rita Skeeter's articles back in Fourth Year. Then again the difference of then and now was that there was proof that Ron had been in the wrong in the marriage between him and Hermione. She hadn't known where things had gone wrong, or maybe it was better to say she hadn't been willing to see that she and Ron really didn't fit and that they had only become a couple since circumstances had expected it out of them.

After all, Harry was with Ginny, the only sister of his male best friend and that left only Hermione and Ron of the Golden Trio, so dubbed by their classmates, and it seemed it had been expected that they should fall in love and get married. But honestly now that she thought of it, she and Ron hadn't fit. They were friends and there had been some teenage hormones running rampant in the past that was enhanced by the emotions and stress of the war, but they had never really been right for each other and the saying that opposites attract really hadn't applied to them, at least not for the long term.

Once the war had ended, they had finished school and graduated from Hogwarts. All three had applied to become Aurors, but only Hermione and Harry had been accepted. Despite his experience in the war, Ron had been rejected on the basis that he was too rash and hot-headed be a good Auror. Since Aurors typically worked in teams or with a partner, these particular character traits were undesirable as Ron's temper could endanger the lives of his co-workers. He had been placed in the same department as his father, as it seemed the best place to put him where his temper wouldn't cause too many problems.

Ron hadn't been happy with the turn of events and Hermione had tried to be a good wife and be understanding and supportive about this very large deviation from the plans that Ron had made for his life. But it hadn't been enough. And it seemed the better she did in her career as an Auror, with the sideline of crusading worthy causes, the more irritable he became. This only led to him lashing out at her.

She hardly took care of their flat; not true as she made sure to set time aside to do some chores every day, which often included cleaning unexpected messes that he created.

She was a horrible cook and served him too much take out or her shitty efforts; okay so cooking wasn't really her forte but she did well enough and she did not always do take out. And it wasn't like he had put forth any effort to do some of the cooking.

She wasn't feminine enough or didn't take enough time with her appearance; now that had been hurtful as she did take the time to look nice each day. Just because she didn't look like a supermodel every day or a two-Sickle whore walking the streets didn't mean that she didn't take the time with her appearance.

She wasn't good in the sack; and that was perhaps the most hurtful of all. She had never seen any stars when she had been with Ron, but she had never said anything hurtful about his efforts in the bedroom.

Hermione had honestly tried, Merlin knew she ahd and should have been awarded for staying with the man with the way he picked fights and verbally abused her in their four-year marriage. But the final straw had occurred in the final year of the marriage. Ron had finally had enough of working in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office and won a spot as the Keeper on his favorite team, the Chudley Cannons. She had thought things would get better once he had an engaging career that he enjoyed, and for a time it had. But then he was never home and when he was, he was still verbally dismissive of her at least when it came to her appearance as by this point sex had become nonexistent. It was when she came home early one day to find him in their marital bed shagging a fan that she knew the marriage was over.

With a flick of her wand she had cast a full Body-Bind Curse on the two, which was interesting and funny in hindsight when she thought about the position they had been stuck in. She had then spent five minutes giving the two of them the sharp side of her tongue as her temper got the best of her before renewing the curse again and then packing her things and leaving to move back in with her parents. She had filed for divorce the very next day, which had been six months ago and was now officially a free woman.

The former Head Girl hadn't any intention of going out that night, let alone going out and celebrating at a club her new single status but Ginny had arrived on her parents' home earlier that evening and had insisted upon it. With her parents agreeing with Ginny, Hermione had no choice to be allow herself to be dolled up and dragged to _**Aurora**_ to drink and be merry with her girlfriends; it was rather disheartening to know that the finalization of the end of her marriage was a cause for celebration, but if had to happen at least she had the best pals a girl could ask for.

"Warty and shriveled balls are too good for the likes of Ron Weasley," Lavender Brown declared, distracting Hermione from her thoughts. "His balls should be clipped and charmed into flying like a snitch so the Beaters can bash it around."

"You guys are the best," Hermione said, "but honestly we should be here celebrating the fact that Harry and Ginny are going to get married next month. Not the end of my marriage."

"She's got a point," Parvati agreed, her twin nodding her head as well. "I still don't understand why you two waited so long to tie the knot. You should have been married ages ago."

"Harry and I wanted to focus on our careers first," Ginny said with a shrug of her shoulders. "Neither of us wants to depend on what his parents left them, sooo we wanted to reach a certain point in our careers before we got married. Him so he can support us and me so I can retire at my zenith and become a stay at home mum."

"Which is good plan," commented Hermione, sipping her strawberry daiquiri. "It's clear that you're very happy with Harry, but I think it's probably better been better for your relationship and future marriage, that you waited a bit before you tied the knot. You had more time after school and in the real world to see how your relationship worked. Maybe if I had waited, I would have realized before the wedding that Ron and me just weren't right and saved us both a lot of trouble and wasted time."

"And find out what a total dud Ron is in bed before you got married," Ginny chirped, her mouth having no filter while drunk. "Not that I would know since he's my brother and that's not only incest but totally disgusting. Mum always did say that you had to give a man a test drive before you get married because if the sex is bad, the marriage won't last long if there's no good make-up sex to smooth things over. Luckily Harry has no problems in that area."

"And clearly, Happy Girl is Bragging Bitch," retorted Hermione. "Don't rub it in, Ginny. Some of around here are going through a sexual moratorium."

The redhead didn't look one bit repentant of rubbing in her good luck in the sex department while her friends gave her good-natured complaints about it. Not that she could be blamed as anyone who was getting good sex (no make that stupendous and wonderfully mind-blowing sex, although Ginny was kind enough not to describe it such detail when her poor friends suffered through their sexual moratorium) and about to marry the most wonderful man in the world could be excused for not being unrepentant for bragging about her good luck a little

The group of friends was distracted by a scuffle occurring nearby. They all turned in unison to see a couple of official looking men dragging a blond male, who was none other then Draco Malfoy, while the Slytherin was clearly trying to resist or at least talk his way out of the situation. There was a blonde witch that Hermione recognized as a Hufflepuff had been a few years behind her, who was following at the heels of the men, and whining about that she was willing to marry Malfoy, so they didn't need to take him to Azkaban.

At first Hermione was rather confused, her mind slightly befuddled by alcohol and seeing Malfoy for the first time since… well probably since they graduated from Hogwarts actually. And then the pieces of the puzzle sank in. The Marriage-Bloodlines Act. The blonde Hufflepuff was Muggle-born. Taken to Azkaban. It was just past midnight which meant that considering the situation, it was Malfoy's twenty-fifth birthday and he had yet to fulfill the requirements of the law. The Hufflepuff, whose name she couldn't seem to recall although she had a faint recollection of it being something annoying and horrendous, was probably the Ministry's choice and Malfoy clearly preferred Azkaban and Dementors to the Hufflepuff.

As she tried to recall the blonde's name, she began remembering other bits of information, which made her sympathize with the Slytherin and understand why he would prefer a cell to marriage to the Hufflepuff. Clearly somebody in the Ministry had it in for him to put him between a rock and hard place with this situation. And then suddenly her world did a 360 that had nothing to do with her alcohol consumption for the night.

Malfoy looked up at that moment and their eyes met. A peculiar gleam entered his eyes before he managed to jerk free of the two Ministry workers. Before anyone could react, he grabbed Hermione's arm and pulled her to him so she found her cheek plastered to a rather muscular chest (who knew Malfoy was this buff) and his arm wrapped around her waist.

"As I was saying, there's no need to haul me to Azkaban," said Malfoy, in an aggravated voice. "And there's no need for me to marry Miss Wiggen-Freathen. The law clearly states that I haven't broken it if I'm engaged to be married to a Muggle-born on my birthday. Which I happen to be. Gentlemen, meet my fiancé, Hermione Granger."

"You-" Hermine began to protest in shock before she was cut off when Malfoy suddenly kissed her and all thoughts of protest of any kind faded into the background.

* * *

_**Final Thought from Hermione:**__  
His what?!_

* * *

_**Author's Note:**__  
Okay this story was first started about a year ago, in response to a challenge posted on Destiny's Fanfiction Archive. It's been revised a bit (found a few missed words that should have been there in the first place) and reworded in a few places to make more sense, but still the same story to begin, except this time I'm hell-bent on completing it. Anyways below is what the challenge was:_

_**Week Twelve One Hour Challenge: #679** – Scene – Your Couple pretend to be either engaged or actually married._

_So this chapter answers the challenge. As a side note, I have nothing against Hufflepuffs, however with a person like Miranda Ashley Wiggins-Freathen, Hufflepfuff would be the only House to accept her._

* * *

_**Disclaimer:**__ I do not claim any rights to Harry Potter or the characters associated with the series. Those rights belong to J.K Rowlings and anyone else she says has rights to it._


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